The context of substation location

Location, location, location. It makes a big difference when it comes to real estate, neighborhoods and building projects.

Communication, communication, communication. Still the world's biggest problem, and Cedar Rapids is not immune.

Location and communication differences erupted quickly last week when south-side community and development leaders caught wind of an agenda item on Tuesday's City Council agenda. Alliant Energy planned a presentation about a proposed new substation at the former Iowa Iron site on city-owned land near the New Bohemia Arts & Entertainment District.

E-mail outcries flowed. Some claimed Alliant and the city blindsided them and were about to seal a deal. Others said the site doesn't fit the area's cultural and historical nature, nor redevelopment already in place or planned. They said the city's own Neighborhood Planning Process involving residents was betrayed.

Alliant soon decided to withdraw the presentation, citing “community misperceptions.”

There seems to be lots of misperception going around. Most important, the substation's location affects many stakeholders and more public review and input is warranted before a final decision.

Alliant spokesman Scott Drcyzimski told us Friday that its presentation was aimed at giving the council a “status update” on the Iowa Iron site, one of nine considered. Alliant representatives already had attended both neighborhood group meetings to which they had been invited. “We expected the council might give us some direction, what they'd like to see, and how to work with the neighborhood groups going forward” - not final approval of the site.

Drcyzimski said another intention was to get the proposal on the public's radar to “get the discussion going. But now it's already begun and we've been invited to meet with several additional groups. ... There may have been some miscommunication along the way, and some groups never called us, but we're willing to take our lumps if we should have done more. Nothing's being rushed ... no malice was intended.”

Still, could the company have been more proactive, perhaps inviting all stakeholders to an informational meeting or series of meetings before scheduling a presentation to the council? Certainly, it would be the right thing to do now.

The new substation is vital to the community. Its customer base is roughly the southern half of downtown and nearby residential and industrial sections. A temporary facility quickly built after the flood is handling the load now but a new one is needed to enhance reliability and reduce vulnerability to any future flooding.

The Iowa Iron site has the “fewest impediments,” Drcyzimski said. One whose importance cannot be overlooked is, as he described it, “meeting the context of the neighborhood.”

-- The Gazette Editorial Board